Never Smart With Love
by plasticineking
Summary: "Falling never hurts, but landing does." - Beauty of The End, Paloma Faith.
1. Nice to Meet You

**Never Smart With Love**

* * *

_**Nice to Meet You**_

* * *

_Just don't fall recklessly, headlessly in love with me_

_Cause it's gonna be all heartbreak._

_Blissfully, painful and insanity._

* * *

"I hate these things," Will turned to Charlie, shifting in his suit. He had some new found fame from his midday news show he shared with an already well known news anchor and by default got invited to parties that were filled with other news workers, from other networks, and all of them seemed to have this situation down a lot better than he did.

"You're not alone," was Charlie's quick reply, as he fiddled with his tie, "I think I'll change over to a bow tie."

"Mm." Will replied, before doing a double take, "A bow tie?" He raised his eyebrows at him. A brief smile flicked over his face, before he turned and looked over the crowd, a champagne glass was thrust into his hand by a waiter.

"I have the face for it according to McHale." He stated simply in reply, sipping his bourbon.

"Who?" Will turned to Charlie now.

"She's the EP for Anderson Cooper's hour during CNN's _NewsNight_. Mackenzie McHale. She's the best." He stated easily, "And beautiful."

"I remember the last EP you said was the best, it ended in an actual fire." The older man shrugged in reply. Pointing his glass over Will's shoulder. He turned to see what he was pointing at and spotted her out straight away. She was smiling, surrounded by some older men, he could hear her giggle over the sound of people and he turned back to Charlie, his eyes slightly wide.

"Yeah." Charlie answered the unasked question, there was a large pause before he continued, "I wanted her on my team."

"All you had to do is ask." A simple English accent spoke from behind Will. He turned and there she was, wide eyes, small smile, brown hair slightly curled at the ends just going past her shoulder, and legs that...well he always had a weakness for legs.

"It didn't seem right with the President of CNN right next to you," Charlie replied, and eye wrinkling smile gracing his face.

"Mr. McAvoy, you were great this afternoon," She stood far enough away to stick out her hand for him to shake, and as he took her hand shaking it gently, he'd happily admit that he kept it there a moment too long.

"Miss McHale... Charlie didn't tell me you were British," He smiled, it falling slightly when she frowned slightly.

"Well, that's because he doesn't tell lies." She paused, "Forgive the accent, but I'm just as American as either of you."

"I..." Will stopped looking confused, look briefly to Charlie for some sort of help.

"I was born here, my father was Margaret Thatcher's ambassador to the UN..." She trailed off before smiling at Will and turning to face Charlie, "But really, Charlie, there's a lot of potential in this man, if I could get my hands on him, he'll have his own primetime slot by the end of the year."

"I think we're at the beginning of something," Charlie replied, ignoring the look that Will was giving Mackenzie, a small smile on his face, "When are you free next?"

"Tomorrow? Say twelve, I'll come to you?" She replied.

"It's a date."

"I hope to see a bow tie," She smiled at him, before turning to Will. "Until next time, Mr. McAvoy." She placed her hand on his upper arm and gently squeezed before turning and walking towards a small crowd before she soon disappeared.

"Mackenzie McHale." Will stated, knocking back his glass of champagne.

"Yeah."

* * *

It was three days later that Will saw Mackenzie again. She was walking around the office, her hair straight, a pencil skirt, heels and a simple blouse and if possible, she looked better than at the party, and he sensed she was probably aware of this. She walked up to his small office, tapping on the door, before entering.

"Mr. McAvoy," She smiled, looking around the office.

"Will, and please sit." He pointed at the seat in front of his desk.

"Will... Great show again, you can definitely do better." She stated, and if he were told this by anyone else, he'd be insulted, instead he was intrigued.

"You've got plans?" He leant forward, elbows on his desk, she smirked at him.

"Of course," she paused slightly, "I hope you'll be a part of them, because now I've met you..." He coughed, slightly embarrassed. Before composing himself.

"What are your plans for tonight?" He asked, standing from his chair and moving around the desk, leaning in front of her.

"Oh, I'm a very busy woman, I've got a show to run and a balls to bust." She stood up, and made to leave, before stopping at his door, "I finish at 10, I hope that's not too late?"

As she left his office, Will was wondering if it was too soon to say he was in love.

* * *

Mackenzie made him smile. It was odd really, because she wasn't doing much to make it so. She was talking about work and if he were on a date with anyone else he'd probably have tried to change the topic to something else, but the way her eyes lit up when she spoke made him grin, and it was _that_ easy. At the end of the night he took her home, walked her to her door, stayed close, not really wanting to leave.

"I've got two months left in my contract with CNN, then..." She paused as she noticed the look in Will's eyes, "I have a feeling you're not too interested in two months."

"You'd be right." He stated simply, taking a step closer to her, one hand on her arm, the other cupping her cheek.

"Oh, Mr. McAvoy, this is going to end badly." She whispered, allowing her eyes to drift from his, to his lips, and back again.

"That's not very optimistic," He leant forward, briefly capturing her lips in a kiss.

"Don't say I didn't warn you," She replied, kissing him back, it lasted longer this time, his hand moving to her hair, as his other moved around her body, he pulled away enough to whisper against her lips.

"How long will you give me to change your mind?" As he spoke, his lips brushed against hers.

"How does a year sound to you?" She replied, and smiled as he smiled.

"Like not enough time to be with you at all," He kissed her gently, before taking a step back, moving his hands from her body, "Let's just hope I can convince you."

"I think it may be working, already."

"I'll ring you, soon, Mac." He stepped away from her turning around and walking down the corridor, to the elevator.

A few moments passed as Mac leant against the door, smiling to herself, she couldn't help the little yelp as her phone started ringing, seeing the caller ID she couldn't help but smile wider.

"Hello, who is this?" She asked, teasingly.

"That's funny, really. Are you free tomorrow?" He asked after a beat.

"Yes. You've got plans?" She grinned into the phone.

"Of course." He paused, "Are you an early bird, Mackenzie?"

"In my job? What do you think?"

"Good, see you at eight." There was quiet for a moment before he murmured, "Goodnight."

"Night, Will." She hung up, turning her head to lean on the door, she frowned to herself, she almost always hated feeling happy.

* * *

**A/N: I don't know much about American tv, but we can all pretend that Mac was an EP for Anderson Cooper because, why not? Plus, we know she worked with CNN post-ACN, so... I'll make an assumption she did so pre-ACN too. Part two (of three) will be up soon.**


	2. I Warned You

**Never Smart With Love**

* * *

_**I Warned You**_

* * *

_I'll tell you that I love you, then I'll tear your world apart._

_Just pretend I didn't tear your world apart._

* * *

The room was cold. It was something that Mac would always remember about that day, the room was cold. It was like that before she even told Will. She walked into her apartment, could hear the faint sounds of the television, and when she stepped further in, she couldn't help the shiver.

_I've never loved anyone before you._

Every time she came back to her apartment and Will was there, she couldn't help the feeling of sickness that rose in her stomach. It was just over a year with Will when Brian first rung her, and five months later, she was creeping home at 3am after spending the last three hours having drunken, partly angry sex with the latter. It went much that way for four months, near enough, and when she ended it, she thought she could just forget it. Three months she spent falling more in love with Will, while the guilt ate at her.

_I'll never love anyone but you._

Mac was sitting opposite Will, him on the couch and herself on the coffee table in front of it, the quiet buzz of the television forgotten in the background.

_It was a mistake, I'm sorry._

She had expected anger, and she wasn't disappointed, he shouted at her, he stormed around the apartment, and she was sure when she went into her bathroom later, she'd find a crack in the mirror, but nothing compared to the quiet that followed.

_Mistakes don't last four fucking months!_

She hadn't cried, she had however, been sick. He wouldn't look at her, and the reality at what was going to happen next hit her in a way she wasn't prepared. She expected it would be hard, but she also expected that they'd get through it.

_You don't do this to people you love._

She watched him as he mentally went through his memories, probably trying to figure out the nights when she came home late, or nights where she cancelled on him, if she was with Brian, and it killed her. It was almost an hour, before his eyes flicked up to hers again, and the breath was knocked out of her.

_Nobody can know why **this is over.**_

* * *

_3 Days Earlier..._

"You've been getting job offers," He walked into his office as he spoke, eyeing her.

"I've been getting job offers since before I started here," her reply was simple. She smiled turning her computer off and her full attention to the man in front of her as he sat.

"Yeah, but you've never really consid..."

"I'll stop you there, Will. You know I _always_ consider job offers. The thought of staying in one job longer than a year unnerves me, and I've been here nearly two. My contract is up soon, it's natural for me to get curious."

"Is it just curiosity, or am I going to lose you to Fox -"

"Ha, no."

"Or CNN again?" She had nothing to say to that, her eyes flicking to her computer screen and back to him, "So, CNN?"

"They've e-mailed me a few times, and I just replied that I'd have a meeting with them, it's nothing but a meeting." She fidgeted.

"You're bored here," He stated.

"I'm not... Okay, I am. You're perfect, you go on that show every late afternoon and you... You don't need me any more..."

"I always need you," he cut through.

"I'm not talking in general..."

"Neither am I." There was a pause where Mac smiled at him.

"I'm just browsing, nothing to worry about." She had gotten good a lying, and it was something she hated. She knew she was going to tell Will, she had to...she couldn't live with herself, and worse case scenario, she'd need a cowards way out. A few moments of silence passed before Will stood, made his way around her desk, turned her chair and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"You okay?" He asked, bending so he could look in her eyes.

"Yeah, just distracted, is all." He stared at her for a moment, before leaning forward to capture her lips. He pulled away, and noticed her eyes were still shut.

"Mac?"

"I love you, Will." She half whispered, "I really do." Her eyes blinked open, a watery glaze on them.

"Good, because I love you too," He paused, "And you can't go too far away from someone you love." He didn't catch the bitterness in her short laugh.

* * *

It took another week at work, before Mac was called up to Charlie's office, she knew the conversation that was going to happen, and she welcomed it.

"You're leaving," Charlie stated, as Mac sat in the seat in front of him.

"I am, my last week next week," She smiled sadly, "My contract is up, W-Will can do the show great, he practically doesn't need an EP..." she trailed off.

"Completely irreconcilable?" He asked, obviously not talking about the job.

"Completely," She answered, looking down at her feat, shifting them slightly. She looked up at Charlie, a sad smile on his own face.

"You're the best EP in the business," He looked at his computer before back at her, "You're going to be great out there."

"Yeah... I don't leave for a few months yet..." She paused, "Does Will know?"

"That you're going to be embedded in Afghanistan? No. That you're leaving? Yes." He answered.

"Don't tell him where I've gone until I've gone, Charlie? I... it's an amazing opportunity..."

"Do you think if he knew he'd stop you?" He asked, a slight bit of hope in his voice.

"Not even slightly." She sighed at Charlie's frown, "I'd just prefer to pretend that would be the case."

"You be safe out there," Charlie spoke quietly as he got up from his desk, motioning for Mac to stand. He moved around the desk and took her in a hug. One she happily returned.

"It's an amazing opportunity," She said weakly, grasping Charlie tighter.

"You keep saying that, kiddo. You'll always have a home here, okay?" He moved back and kissed her cheek.

* * *

"_Dammit Charlie, why didn't you tell me?"_

"_Would you have stopped her?"_

"_...No."_

"_Then what does it matter?"_

* * *

It took seventeen months before Charlie heard anything negative about the work Mac was doing whilst she was embedded. He checked up on the work she did weekly, and wasn't surprised when she got her first Peabody. When he found that her show wouldn't be airing for one week, warning bells went off, and he checked the CNN website. It took him twenty minutes to find out what was wrong, in a story pushed to the side of the website, the writing so small it took him a few minutes to read, 'CNN's own Mackenzie McHale injured covering a protest in Islamabad. Critical but stable, updated soon'.

It took Charlie only ten minutes from there to find out _exactly _what had happened, and five minutes later he wasn't completely surprised when Will came into his office, without knocking, and on the phone.

"...No... Thank you... Bye." He looked flustered, and oddly more alive than he had in over a year.

"You've heard." Charlie stated obviously.

"Not critical any more, fucking stepped in front of a senior producer of hers._ Stupid._"

"Brave, and you know it." Charlie corrected, a slight shout to his voice.

"They're releasing the footage," Will replied bitterly.

"She wouldn't want it any other way."

"She'd hate being seen as entertainment, and _you know it_." There was a pause before he moved for the door, "Tell me what you know when you know it, Charlie."

"You told me you wouldn't have stopped her from going..." Charlie replied, eyeing Will as he stayed paused by Charlie's door.

"It wasn't my place to make her stay."

"She would have... If you asked."

"I know." Will spoke quietly before leaving the office.

* * *

"_She's getting another Peabody."_

"_She deserves it."_

"_She doesn't think so."_

"_You've spoken to her?"_

"_Yeah... Get your head out of your ass and read your damn e-mails."_

* * *

It was nearly a year later that Charlie had word that Mackenzie was back. He kept up to date with her process, disgust swimming through him when he found that she couldn't get a job anywhere. His eyes flicked to the tv screens in front of his desk, a frown forming as he watched Will autopilot his way through his final news broadcast before his vacation. He had the youtube video of Will and Northwestern and smiled to himself as he realized there was a way he could hopefully finally watch the news again.

To: Mackenzie McHale

From: Charles Skinner

Subject: [empty]

_I think it's time to come home, don't you?_

* * *

**A/N: I've always been interested in how Charlie reacted to the Will/Mac situation, since we know he didn't know Mac cheated on Will. It turned out to be a lot more Charlie that I'm comfortable writing because...I don't don't feel I do him any justice. I hope this was okay... part 3 (final part) shouldn't be too long coming up either, I've started it so that's good! Thank you so much for the reviews also! I know this chapter has a very different feel to it, I'm sorry if it's not what you wanted... Enjoy!**


	3. Move On

**Never Smart With Love  
**

* * *

_**Move On**_

* * *

_Let's get old together. Let's be unhappy forever._

_'Cause there's no one else in this world, that I'd_

_rather be unhappy with._

* * *

In an ideal world, by now, Will and Mac would have moved on. But reality was anything but ideal, and the more time they spent together, they realized as much. When she re-entered his life, it had been three years since he'd seen her last, and it felt exactly like he feared he would, he loved her and resented her equal amounts and it hurt just to look at her. He'd gone through two years working with her, again, and any assumptions he had that his feelings would go away with time, were daily, getting shot down.

It was an argument that led to a kiss, that changed everything again. He had told her about the ring, and she was angry. It wasn't a surprise, he expected her anger. He welcomed it. She'd been quiet around him and he hated it. He didn't expect the kiss, he was much a part of it as she was, but he hadn't expected it. She shouted about how unfairly he had treated her with the whole intention of hurting her, when she never wanted to hurt him, and there had been a moment of deep breathing before they came together, a kiss that they'd obviously been needing.

"Okay..." Were the first words uttered by Mac as they pulled apart, both of them moving to either sides of the office.

"Mmhm," He replied, his hands on his lips. Mac turned to look out of the office, noticing that only the cleaning woman, Susan, was outside her iPod in probably to drown out the noise of their yelling. She turned back to Will and sighed.

"What are we going to do?" She asked, taking a breath.

"Turn back time," He replied sarcastically. She rolled her eyes, and moved behind his desk to his seat and sat heavily down.

"You know this is your fault..." She spoke to him, ignoring his laugh.

"Are we talking generally, because I think we both know who's fault it was, Mac. And don't go fucking telling me percentages either, you cheated on me with Brian, and that's 100% of the fault."

"For Christ's sake..." She paused, "I was talking about the kiss, and the arguing... And you bought that damn ring to _fuck _with me, Will..."

"I apologized."

"Saying it was a harmless joke, whilst knowing it caused a lot of harm, is like stabbing someone with a knife and saying that...you... thought that it..."

"I'll just help Susan with the cleaning while you figure out an end to that metaphor." He snarked.

"Screw you, Will." She took a breath. She twirled in his chair from side to side, Will watched as she did so.

"I've missed you," He spoke into the nights air, she continued her motions whilst nodding.

"I've missed you, too." She replied. He moved over to his side of the desk motioning at her.

"Up," He paused, "I want to sit down." She huffed before pushing the chair backwards and standing up moving to the side and pointing to his chair.

"There you go, master." She made to move as he sat down, before he grabbed her hand.

"Stay close, this is serious and will go a lot better if you're not pacing over there," He commanded and she stopped her movements, gently removed her hand from his and sat to the side of him, on his desk.

"If we applied logic to the matter we'd realize that the reason we can't move on is because we want to be together..."

"But when has logic ever applied to us... I mean, when was it logical to sleep with an ex boyfriend, to find out you loved your current boyfriend?"

"And when was it logical to invite said ex boyfriend to write a piece about News Night?" She shot back, "Also, may I add, that you were obviously lying."

"About what?"

"Well, you said that in your voicemail you said 'I'm not just saying this because I'm high' but you obviously were, otherwise you would say it now."

"This again?" He huffed, turning to his computer, remembering it was off and looking back at her.

"Yeah, this again. Because..."

"I didn't say what I said because I was high, I was just able to say it because I was high." He cut her off, she opened her mouth and shut it again.

"What's the difference?"

"I meant what I said, but I haven't got the guts to tell you."

"You still mean what you said?" She asked quietly, shifting her body more to him.

"Mm," Was his reply, as he leant back further in his chair, "You know what I said."

"Of course I know what you said, but it doesn't mean anything unless you say it, and you're not going to say it."

"No," He agreed. Sighing, he moved his chair closer to her. Watching her watch her feet as moved back and forth on the floor. His hand went to hers as it rested on the desk, before moving up to her wrist and tugging her slightly.

"Will?" She asked, her eyes wide staring at him.

"Come here," He pulled her slightly to him and she scoffed.

"Because we're obviously teenagers," He rolled his eyes at here, standing and moving to the blinds in his office, shutting them, before walking slowly back to her.

"You know, you've got one more year left, and you'll leave," He stated quietly, stopping to stand directly in front of her, his feet either side of her own. He leant forward, his eyes staying directly on hers before moving back, his cigarettes in his hand along with his lighter. She sighed before speaking.

"We both know I'm not going anywhere," She shook her head.

"I don't... In fact, I don't know much about you any more, Mac." She pouted her lips, looking away from him as he lit his cigarette, throwing them and the lighter back on the desk, he blew the smoke in her general direction, almost smiling as she closed her eyes dreamily.

"What are we going to do?" She asked after a moment, "I can do this for a while. I can handle you hurting me, even when you do it intentionally."

"I'd never hurt yo..."

"The women, the ring, Brian..." She stated back at him.

"I'm not perfect."

"You are, that's how you knew exactly _how_ to hurt me..."

"Mackenzie." He cut her off, his eyes pleading.

"I'm sorry." She sighed heavily, "I'm so sorry." She shook her head.

* * *

_Hang Chews_

"_Where are they?"_

"_Probably fighting, Jim. That's all they ever do."_

"_One of them is going to end up dead."_

"_My bet's on both."_

"_Guess it's too much to ask for them to make up."_

"_I like Mac, I don't want her to die... Maybe I should go back."_

"_Maggie, stay, I'll go..."_

"_I thought you only drank when you were scared?"_

"_God knows what I'm interrupting, if I could take the bottle I would!"_

* * *

"I hate that this can't be fixed." Mac spoke up after a while. Will was leaning on the wall behind him, directly in front of Mac.

"Me too." He replied.

"I also hate that you agreed with me."

"Yeah, me too." He replied, watching her face.

"Is this it?" Mac asked him her voice low laced with sadness, and at that moment he realized two things. One, that he had forgiven her and two, he really hoped that this wasn't the end.

"I don't know," Was his reply, and he mentally slapped himself. Standing straight he was almost towering over Mac, "Stand up." She shuffled for a moment before complying standing in front of him, looking up at him.

A few moments passed, and he could see the panic wash over her face but he ignored it. He needed to sort through his thoughts and feelings that came over him whilst he watched her.

"We're going to be unhappy forever," He spoke, his voice startling her. She took a breath and shook her head.

"That doesn't sound very optimistic," She replied, a smile on her face taking a step closer to him, leaning up to press a kiss to the corner of his mouth.

"I'm older now, I'm not very optimistic about anything," He leant to give her a kiss on her lips briefly, before pulling back, "Don't say I didn't warn you." After a quiet laugh escaped Mac she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"How long will you give me to change your mind?" She smiled, greeted with the sight of Will smiling before kissing her again, her eyes clenching tightly shut as her hands moved into his hair.

* * *

"_Jim, you're back... Where's Mac?"_

"_I..."_

"_Put the bottle down and talk to me, what's wrong?"_

"_They were like teenagers."_

"_Arguing that bad?"_

"_No... definitely not arguing... Making out."_

"_NO WAY! You didn't walk in did you?!"_

"_Maggie, no. The blinds were shut, I went to go to the door and I saw them through that, I almost tripped over Susan..."_

"_Poor Susan."_

"_Poor me!"_

* * *

**A/N: That's the end – I may actually do an epilogue, but I can never really get them to stray away from awkwardly cheesy and stuff... I had the conversation between Will/Mac play out differently in my head, I was in the bath and I thought of the perfect things to say... and when I got out of the bath I completely forgot, and I still can't remember. I'm okay with this though. Thanks for reading!**

**extra note: The reason this took a little longer to be posted was someone reported a story of mine, from another fandom, and got me suspended for a few days and the story deleted. I'm not too happy at all, but if that's what makes people happy, whatever. - That'll be a fandom I'll not write in again, sadly.**


End file.
